As emergency aid trickles in, women and girls who were already vulnerable due to years of conflict, displacement and economic instability, now face even greater risks from gender-based violence and exploitation, according to a UN-led coalition responding to the crisis. “Girls are particularly vulnerable, especially when separated from their families...
That’s according to the head of MONUSCO, Bintou Keita, speaking exclusively to UN News ahead of briefing members of the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday. Mediation efforts The meeting between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame last week in Qatar – where they called for a...
In November, following several failed attempts, politicians of all stripes approved a bill to overhaul legislation that has been in effect since 1887, reflecting a deep-rooted practice that violates the rights of children and adolescents: according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). one in five girls aged between 14...
A team from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Syria visited former prisons and detention centres, including the notorious Sednaya and the Military Intelligence Branch 235 prisons. It is the first time the team has been able to access Syria, as the former regime denied all previous requests...
Catherine Russell, head of UN child rights agency, UNICEF, appealed for greater protection efforts by both the international community and the parties to the conflict, and a political solution to end the war. “Children are depending on this Council to provide solutions. We cannot and we must not let them...
Around 50 per cent of us do have access to at least one social protection benefit – but 3.8 billion people lack any kind of safety net, including 1.8 billion children worldwide, according to the World Social Protection Report 2024-26: Universal social protection for climate action and a just transition. “Climate...
John Marks, interim UNICEF Representative in Ukraine, issued a renewed appeal for schools to be protected as war rages on. “During the first week of the new academic year, educational facilities in areas including Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, Lviv and Sumy were reportedly damaged in attacks,” he said. “Evacuations across...
According to news reports, Pakistani security forces began detaining and deporting dozens of Afghans under the new policy this week after a Government deadline for them to leave ran out. The majority of undocumented refugees who have settled in Pakistan over decades are from neighbouring Afghanistan, and following the Taliban...
The resolution breaks the deadlock at the UN over a response to the Israel-Palestine crisis which erupted on 7 October, where Member States on the Security Council have failed to reach agreement on four draft resolutions. Click here for our coverage of the Assembly’s Emergency Special Session on the crisis....
UN News is winding down our live coverage of today’s events in the Council. For full blow by blow coverage of the debate so far and the dozens of speakers to come on the Israel-Palestine crisis, you can visit our special UN Meetings Coverage Section, here. Indonesia Retno Marsudi, Minister...
UNHCR’s representative in Niger, Emmanuel Gignac, said that sanctions imposed on the country by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) following last month’s military takeover do not include any exemptions for humanitarian aid. Mr. Gignac observed that food and commodity prices, already climbing before this crisis, jumped after...
During the visit, Ms. Triggs mentioned that one of the worst shipwrecks in the Mediterranean happened just over a month ago. Protecting refugee rights “The Pylos tragedy and the other devastating tragedies in the Mediterranean underscore the primacy of saving lives and protecting the rights of people forced to flee....